With the end of the year 2022, it’s time to make a little retrospection on everything that happened. We have prepared a sustainability report which also concerns the years 2020 and 2021, which remained suspended due to Covid 19.
I like retrospectives, because it gives us the opportunity to make a point, to see we have achieved, if we need to adjust our objectives or re-align ourselves with our mission. Here is our sustainability report between 2020 and 2022!
The year 2020
March – with Covid our reservations planned for the year 2020 were first put on hold and then were mainly postponed. Everyone thought they could travel later in 2020 or at least in 2021. Looking back now we know that most of our travelers made their trip planned for 2020 in 2022! Thank you all for your trust!
September – After weeks of waiting, managing reservations to be postponed and webinars of all kinds, in September we created a complementary entity to Phima Voyages. We started online training for tour operators in Latin America which includes a Facebook page, a private group dedicated to professionals as well as an online course and personalized consulting.
Between 2020 and 2021 – all Phima Voyages members took advantage of the time without reservations or customers to do online training on the Travelife platform. Themes are diverse such as Child Protection, Environmental Management, Staff Involvement, Animal Welfare etc. The Travelife platform helps us a lot for the preparation of this responsibility report, and also to set up an action plan.
The year 2021
In 2021, the situation of Phima Voyages has changed. Emeline, our local manager, has returned to France. Jhon, our guide, became independent and worked as a ranger in a nature reserve.
June 2021 – For a month I followed a training course called “Community-based tourism Training of Trainers from ITC (International Training Center)”.
An excellent course on how to prepare well for community tourism, integrate local communities and co-construct activities. All about the 5 Cs: Consider, Conceive, Craft, Connect, Conserve!
October 2021 – I followed the “Climate Friendly Travel (CFT) Summer School by SunX Malta” training. It’s about the importance of change in relation to travel, and all that we as travel companies can do to minimize our negative impact and maximize the positive impact.
December 2021 – After several virtual meetings with the DIRCETUR (Regional Direction of Tourism) Amazonas, I started an online course for women ceramicists in Huancas. The idea is to create a new tourist product that allows them to present their art of culinary ceramics. At the same time they will involve the visitor actively and have lunch together. For Phima Voyages, it is a way to continue our mission, which is the active involvement of our local partners.
The year 2022
Trip to Peru
February – Trip to Peru. Philippe and I had returned to Peru, after 2 years without being able to visit due to COVID. We had many meetings with tourism professionnals. Everywhere we talked about the resumption of tourism, the importance of being well prepared. We have also started to set up accountability reports for all our partners.
In four weeks, we have strengthened ties with our partners on site. We facilitated meetings with the communities of Cuispes and Leymebamba. On the coast we visited our local partners, the artists Julian Bravo and Martin Granados in Tucume. We cycled the coast near Chiclayo and discovered several new activities and experiences for you!
Under our training hat, I completed the face-to-face course for the women ceramic artisans of Huancas that we had started online.
Training for professionals
Through our structure created in 2020, we have provided 256 hours of training to 38 participants in several Latin American countries.
Resumption of Travelife certification
In November 2019 we received the Travelife Partner certification. This certification followed the implementation of internal procedures and in relation with our suppliers (hotels, restaurants, guides, drivers and tourist operators). Valid for two years, ours therefore expired in November 2021. We theoretically had to continue with the next level, Travelife Certified. But with the Covid, our situation has changed a lot. Currently we do not have any staff hired on site. Several of our hotel partners have closed, drivers have changed jobs. We have therefore decided to take the certification back from scratch. We hope to be able to announce that we have renewed our certification in March 2023. This responsibility report is a first step.
October 2022 – Collaboration with Conservamos por Naturaleza on reforestation. You probably knew it – every traveler with Phima Voyages is committed to reforestation in northern Peru! In 2022, our clients adopted 57 trees at ACP Los Chilchos. 8 customers personally planted their trees at Perico, ACP Milpuj.
Seen like that, this sustainability report shows that we have done quite some actions during the last two years!
And 2023 is going to get even better.
